The present invention relates to a table which can be extended by turning over its side boards. This table can be used in public locales, or wherever there is a need to match the number of places at the tables to the number of customers.
Currently, to increase the number of persons sitting at the same table, two or more tables are moved close together. Such tables are square or rectangular, since round tables cannot be set side by side, due to the lack of continuity of the horizontal planes.
Square or rectangular tables which in public venues are usually for two or four persons leads to the formation of elongated table sets where the people sharing the meal can only relate with those sitting next to them or at the opposite side of the table. Moreover, when tables are simply set side by side, table furnishings are generally not very elegant, giving a sense of patched up precariousness.
Another problem encountered by public locale managers is represented by the need to make some halls multi-functional, e.g. by transforming them into dining halls and dancing halls or other uses. In this case, the hall would have to be momentarily emptied by placing the tables, appropriately disassembled, in small storage spaces. This is currently done only with common foldable tables, whereas it would be useful for extensible tables to be constructed as modular tables, to be disassembled or collapsed when necessary.
The same needs, albeit on a reduced scale, are encountered in modern homes, where furnishing solutions that allow to optimise space are sought and appreciated.
The present invention aims to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks.
In particular, a purpose of the present invention is to provide a table which can be transformed rapidly, in a convenient, effective and elegant manner, making more or less ample the surface of its horizontal plane.
The term xe2x80x9chorizontal planexe2x80x9d indicates the set of parts constituting the upper surface of the table, whilst the term xe2x80x9cbasexe2x80x9d indicates any structure sustaining said horizontal plane, for instance a column or a base conventionally provided with legs and fixed feet or equipped with wheels or other means for moving. It is known that this upper surface of the table must be uniformly plane, both when in a non-extended position and when in an extended position.
Another aim of the invention is to provide a table having a horizontal plane with an extensible surface which can be easily disassembled for storage in a minimal space, and reassembled when necessary.
The present invention provides a table which can be extended by tuning over, its side boards, constituted by a horizontal plane, having relatively movable pans, and by a base for said horizontal plane. Said parts of the horizontal plane comprise multiple peripheral parts, formed by pairs of equal and superposed upper and lower side boards, having straight sides defining a geometric figure. A central part, enclosed by said peripheral parts and having a shape complementary to the overall shape of the peripheral parts relative to the geometric shape defined thereby;
said central part of the horizontal plane by means of a vertical shaft beings mounted so as to be able to rotate on said base and to move vertically by means of cam profiles provided in the bottom of said central part,
the peripheral parts of the horizontal plane being fastened to the central swivelling part according to an arc of rotation corresponding to its vertical motion on said cam profiles;
said lower side boards being joined to an underlying frame, bearing down on said base, and constituting, together with the upper side boards, the edge of the table in its non-extended state;
said upper side boards being hinged to said lower side boards according to an axis passing along the respective straight outer sides and, when turned over outwardly about said axis by a flat angle relative to the lower side boards until bearing down on said base, constituting the edge of the table in its extended state.